Flood risk with housings versus housed cameras

[asher]

How do folks feel about housed cameras like the Sea & Sea DX3000 versus housings around "regular" cameras? Is the risk of flooding greater with a housing, or is a housed camera basically a camera and housing sold together?

Some background - I'm trying to put together an underwater system. I own an Olympus 3030 already, and I'm trying to decide whether to:

1. Just buy a housing for it. Downside - if the housing floods, I've got no camera at all.
2. Buy another camera and a housing for that.
3. Buy a housed camera like the DX3000.

Also, my impression of the 3030 is that it's on the slow side. Is that going to be a problem underwater?

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[pdoege]

Hey -

I went the housing route and picked up some flooding insurance.

Cameras that fit into housings tend to be somewhat better than their UW dedicated cousins. At least on the digital side.

I have no experience with the 3030. I know that the Canon S30 is considerably slower than the later S40/45/50 series. It works well under water.

Peter

 

[Dee]

asher once bubbled...
How do folks feel about housed cameras like the Sea & Sea DX3000 versus housings around "regular" cameras? Is the risk of flooding greater with a housing, or is a housed camera basically a camera and housing sold together?

I'm sort of confused A housed camera IS a regular camera with a housing around it. S&S's DX3000 is their digital offering for the market that comes with it's own housing. There are underwater film cameras such as S&S Motor Marine II and Nikonos models. These cameras themselves are waterproof and require no external housing. But I get the idea you are wanting digital.

Some background - I'm trying to put together an underwater system. I own an Olympus 3030 already, and I'm trying to decide whether to:

1. Just buy a housing for it. Downside - if the housing floods, I've got no camera at all.
2. Buy another camera and a housing for that.
3. Buy a housed camera like the DX3000.

What's the difference?
1. Buy one housing or
2. a camera and housing both or
3. another camera and housing.

Also, my impression of the 3030 is that it's on the slow side. Is that going to be a problem underwater?

Beast just got a C-3040 and it's write time is a shade slower than my C-4040 so I would say your C-3030 is probably the same. But honestly...it's not a big deal. You're not going to be rapid firing a camera underwater anyway. If there's that much action going on, take a short video clip of it!

My best suggestion....buy a Oly PT-XXX housing for your C-3030 then buy flood insurance from DEPP. Use the money you would have spent starting from scratch on a S&S YS90DX strobe.

My 2¢

 

[blacknet]

Hello,

Nothing makes a good handoff like more than 1 camera while in the water. I commonly take 2 cameras with me and leave one at the ancor then swap out when finished. This way i have more bottom time and no reload time.

Also having a second + unit makes for a good backup in case of some disaster.

Ed

 

[asher]

Thanks for all the input! By "slow", I was referring more to shutter lag than to write time. I'm concerned that between pressing the shutter and when it actually clicks that fish will be out of the frame. Anybody else had this problem?

So, are there no "housed cameras" (that is, waterproof cameras rather than separate camera-and-housing assemblies) in the digital world?

 

[Dee]

asher once bubbled...
Thanks for all the input! By "slow", I was referring more to shutter lag than to write time. I'm concerned that between pressing the shutter and when it actually clicks that fish will be out of the frame. Anybody else had this problem?

So, are there no "housed cameras" (that is, waterproof cameras rather than separate camera-and-housing assemblies) in the digital world?

All digitals will have shutter lag, with the exceptions maybe of some of the higher end pro models. There are a few things you can do to compensate, though. The half shutter push that pre-focuses, for instance.

As far as I know there are no digital underwater cameras, only film cameras.

 

[Grajan]

Dee,
Do you have a link to that insurance?

Thanks

 

[Dee]

Here ya go....D.E.P.P.

 

[TedJ]

asher,

Shutter lag is a difficulty for all the prosumer digital cameras. That's why so many of us get "fish butt" shots. Holdng the shutter release down half-way helps to overcome this problem, but does not solve it.

Recently Sea & Sea introduced a replacement for their DX3000 (that was only introduced twoor so months ago BTW) using a Ricoh G3 camera that has a very fast shutter (as did the former Ricoh Caplio that was in the 3000). It's about the fastest shutter I know of, but the downside is that the camera is only 3 or so mpixels. Depending on your eventual purpose for shooting this might work well for you.

In the digital world, no one has produced the equivalent of the Nikonos line of truly submersible cameras and I seriously doubt if anyone will, given the ability to house something like the C-xoxo series of Olympus cameras and the Canons for around $200. I currently have a Olympus C-5050z housed in an Olympus PT-015 and love it, understanding the one drawback of shutter lag.

If you really want digital with no shutter lag you have to move up to a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) which is very much more expensive to buy and even more to house for u/w use.

Hope this has helped. TedJ

 

[asher]

OK, so then - has anybody used the new DX3000? Is it any good? What about the various Olympus housings? I know that the Tetra is good, but I don't really feel the need to spend $1200 for a super-heavy-duty housing, and I'd actually prefer a transparent housing so I can see any flooding hopefully before it destroys the camera. I know Ikelite has a housing, and Olympus has their cheap one - are these any good?

Thanks!